Kenyans are increasingly showing distrust in social media influencers, with only 14% of citizens saying that social media influencers affect their purchases. With over 700 internet users surveyed in Kenya between December 2018 and January 2019, the report concluded that most Kenyans are resorting to testing out products on their own rather than relying on social media influencers.
According to the study, this distrust has been largely brought about by the influencers themselves. As more brands ventured into influencer marketing, many influencers bartered their credibility for advertising dollars. This has led to influencers endorsing too many brands (even some that are in direct competition) or recommending products they’ve never actually tried nor use in their daily lives.
Beyond the declining impact of social media influencers on product purchases, the study also revealed that comedians and musicians regularly rank high in terms of number of fans as well as engagement across all three major social media networks — Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Kenyans also do not have a specific reason why they follow social media influencers. “This shows that many Kenyans follow influencers just because they are a big deal or because they come off as the ‘cool kids’ of social media.”